How to Defend Yourself against Mystical Creatures
by loverofcookies
Summary: She was almost too lost in thought to notice the shop, but one of the charms in the window caught her eye, and she turned to look. A small sign perched in the corner that said, “OTHERWORLDLY GOODS”. A spark of hope blossomed within Sakura’s damp frame.


AN: New stuff!!! This is just a drabble right now, let me know what you guys think, ok?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

How to Defend Yourself against Vampires

Sakura let her eyes travel over the books in the library leisurely, searching for something, anything that could help her. A frown quickly appeared on her face, than deepened. As she made her way to the end of the dusty tomes, she sighed.

'Not again,' thought Sakura. She made her way to the circle of chairs for "avid" readers, and let her head fall into her hands. Now what was she going to do? She had already checked all the bookstores in town, and none of them had come even close to having what she needed. Her short, black nails gripped tightly onto her head of bright pink dye-resistant hair.

Sakura had always been one of those girls who had been…different. As a child, she was often strangely quiet, and as she grew older, she'd settled into her strange personality even more, adopting dark clothing and make-up that often classified her as a Goth, or, if people were in a particularly judgemental mood, a witch.

'No,' thought Sakura. 'No one can take care of this but me.' She stood up easily, hands falling to her sides in a gesture of relaxation. It was solely a gesture; as Sakura was always strangely alert. The overly helpful receptionist called out to her as she walked towards the door.

"Did you find something?" she asked in a bubbly manner. Sakura turned her head to gaze at the receptionist with cold eyes, and the receptionist's smile faltered. Sakura merely continued to look at her for a moment longer, than shook her head.

"No," Sakura said slowly. "But I will." The receptionist watched as her eyes hardened into hazy emeralds under the heavy eyeliner, and Sakura walked out.

"Okay, then…" the receptionist trailed off. What was she supposed to say to that?

***

Sakura continued to walk down the street, ignoring the people who visibly gave her a wide berth. Her black boots sloshed through the puddles. Sakura liked rain. It reminded her of the dark side of the world that so many people tried to hide from themselves. No one had any imagination lately, and so no one had any concept of what reality actually was.

She was almost too lost in thought to notice the shop, but one of the charms in the window caught her eye, and she turned to look. There was a soft glow coming from the store that could only be produced by candle light, and charms and talismans were hung in the front window. A small sign perched in the corner that said, "Otherworldly Goods". A spark of hope blossomed within Sakura's damp frame.

She pushed open the door with one hand, the small ding of the shop bell a welcome disturbance in the stifling silence. Sakura trudged through the store, past healing herbs, talismans, good luck charms, and tarot cards to reach a small bookshelf at the back. Her verdant eyes searched eagerly in the darkness, flitting back and forth. Her hands clenched in excitement. Would she actually find what she was looking for here?

'Spell books, healing books, how to make your own good luck charms…' Her eyes hit a small black book with red letters written in charming calligraphy. A grin lit her face.

"Bingo," Sakura thought smugly.

***

Sakura came into the classroom at lunch time and sat at the back. She'd always eaten lunch here, ever since her first year of high school, since she'd enjoyed the peace and quiet for reading. But lately the upperclassmen had started hanging out here. And not just any upperclassmen, but the Akatsuki. She pulled her lunch out of her bag, and then pulled out her new book and placed it next to her lunch. As she started eating her sandwich, she read over the first chapter of her book. She'd skimmed the introduction last night in preparation for today, but she figured she could start reading it today at lunch and that would be enough. There was a small checklist at the end of the first chapter that said three things:

Maintain eye contact as much as possible

Try to reveal as little skin as possible, especially around your throat and wrists

Assert yourself in a calm and collected way

Sakura closed her book, a thoughtful look on her face. She wasn't sure if all that she'd read would be enough, but it was worth testing it today anyways. Just as she thought that, they were here. They came in through the door, grinning and joking like normal teenagers. Well, as normal as they could be, Sakura reasoned. She searched through them for his face. As she found him, his eyes locked with hers for a fraction of a second. She held his gaze easily, allowing a little of her defiance to shift in her gaze, before she looked away.

The first time she'd seen Itachi Uchiha, Sakura had known something wasn't right about him. First of all, his complexion was completely too pale to be healthy. Secondly, he had blood-red eyes, and thirdly, well he was just plain strange. She was strange too, but only in a quiet person way, not in a big-bad-wolf way.

They settled down a couple rows of desks in front of her. There were only nine of them, but they seemed to make the whole room smaller, something else Sakura wasn't particularly fond of.

She continued to eat her lunch, and skimmed over the first chapter again. This didn't sound too difficult. She turned around and placed the book next to some others on the shelf. Time to find out what this book was made of.

* **

Itachi watched the girl carefully. Normally she seemed like a quiet character, but today something in the winds had shifted. He half-listened to Kisame go on about how his gym teacher was a ridiculous idiot who….his thoughts drifted as the girl sat back down about putting her book away.

Now Deidara was telling a joke, after which Sasori gave him a look that said that it wasn't really that funny, and he definitely shouldn't be laughing that hard. The girl suddenly looked up and caught his eyes. He was somewhat surprised by the strength of her gaze; it seemed to be just as cold and dangerous as his own. Defiance was creeping into it as well. He strengthened it, but the girl refused to back down. Finally, he scowled and looked away. He turned to Kisame, who was listening to Deidara now describe some of the things that the guys had found in their gym lockers this year that shouldn't be there.

"Who is that girl?" asked Itachi, leaning over to speak in a low voice to Kisame. Kisame glanced slightly over his shoulder to see the pink-haired girl at the back of the room watching them slightly.

"Her?" he said, in an equally discreet voice. "Twelfth grader, like us. Heard she's a loner, doesn't talk much. Most people don't really seem scared of her though, more like they just ignore her." Kisame shrugged, than raised one eyebrow in question at Itachi. Itachi just shook his head, and Kisame shrugged once more and turned back to the conversation, where it was being revealed that a thong had been discovered in a gym locker. No one knew how, but it was suggested that…. Itachi tuned out once more.

His eyes slid back to the girl again. Wait, something was different. He thought back and realized she'd pulled a sweater on over her shoulders. 'It isn't that cold,' he thought, confused. Suddenly, she collected her things and walked down the aisle. Where was her book she was reading earlier? He traced it back to the shelf, only to realize that it had suddenly gotten extremely quiet. He looked up to see Kisame and everyone else looking at him expectantly. He raised an eyebrow, and Kisame gestured slightly towards his left. When he turned to look he realized that the girl was standing next to the desk expectantly.

"Can I help you?" he asked, slightly irritated that the girl had managed to sneak up on him. She smiled slightly, though her eyes were still cold. Her green eyes were doing that thing again, where she didn't blink and just bored into him. He narrowed his own crimson orbs in response.

"Yes," she said. She gestured towards the desk he was sitting on. "I was wondering if you could move so I could get something from my desk." She waited politely, and he just stared at her for a second, before moving off the desk to stand beside it. She removed a book from the desk, then turned and left.

As soon as she made it out the door, Deidara whistled.

"That girl is totally my idol, yeah. One of those glares from you, and she didn't even flinch." He grinned in Itachi's direction.

"What's up with that girl anyways?" asked Sasori. "She usually just reads, but today it seemed like she was interrogating Itachi with her eyes." All eyes turned to Itachi, and he merely shrugged.

"Wonder what she was reading in that book of hers, yeah," said Deidara. He hopped off of the desk, followed by Tobi, and went to the back of the room where her book rested. Pulling it off of the shelf, he carried it back to the group of desks where the rest of them were perched.

"Well?" demanded Hidan. "Crack the f***ing thing open already!" He leaned forward in anticipation.

"Hold your horses, yeah!" demanded Deidara in an irritated fashion as everyone leaned towards him. He opened it and looked at the cover for a second. "Looks like your mystery girl's name is Sakura Haruno, Itachi, yeah," he said after a second. He flipped forward through the book, scanning slightly with wide blue eyes before he hit the page with the book mark. He read it once, lips moving slightly, before his eyes widened and he read it again. All of a sudden he burst out laughing, and flung the book slightly sideways, to Sasori, who caught and read it, before starting to chuckle himself.

"What is it?" asked Itachi, slightly curious. Beside him, Kisame leaned forward to reach for the book, which he received after it had gone through everyone else. By the time Kisame got it, Deidara wasn't the only one laughing his butt off. Deidara, Hidan, and Tobi were all out killing themselves, while Sasori, Pein, Konan, Zetsu, and Kakuzu were chuckling. Kisame read it himself before giving it to Itachi. Itachi was starting to get annoyed. It couldn't be _that_ funny. He grabbed it out of Kisame's hand as Kisame started laughing himself. He growled at the rest of them, though it did absolutely nothing.

With narrowed eyes, he scanned the title of the text. "How to defend yourself against mystical creatures." His eyes started to widen in disbelief. He skipped the introduction and reached the first chapter, which was titled, "Vampires". As he read through the rest of the chapter and compared it to what had happened earlier that lunch his mind came to a startling realization. He ignored his hysterical friends in favour of working this out. As it hit him he was slightly mollified and completely shocked.

"She thinks I'm a vampire?!!!!"


End file.
